The words to use
- Course of treatment
- Everything planned to make your mouth healthy at one point in time. You pay once, at the highest band it includes, however many visits it takes.
- Urgent course of treatment
- Emergency care such as a temporary filling or up to two extractions. It costs the band 1 rate: £27.90 in England from April 2026.
- Exemption
- An entitlement to free NHS dental treatment, for example for under-18s, pregnant women and new mothers, and people on certain benefits.
- NHS Low Income Scheme
- A means-tested scheme for people not on qualifying benefits. An HC2 certificate gives free treatment; an HC3 certificate gives partial help with charges.
- Patient charge revenue
- The money patients pay in NHS dental charges: £863 million in England in 2025/26. It offsets NHS spending rather than adding to dentists' income.
